US Sanctions Ivanishvili’s Inner Circle & more– 21st Sep 2023

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 21st of September twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

We start with a bit of sanction action.

On Thursday, the 14th, the US sanctioned Otar Partskhaladze and Bera Ivanishvili. Partskhaladze is the former Prosecutor General of Georgia, an individual in Bidzina Ivanishvili’s inner circle. Bera Ivanishvili, Bidzina Ivanishvili's son, is the godfather of Partskhaladze's grandchild. Partskhaladze resigned from the Prosecutor General post in twenty thirteen after his criminal record in Germany went viral. The US State Department also sanctioned Aleksander Onishchenko, a Russian intelligence officer, for his involvement in Russia's harmful influence in Georgia. Partskhaladze, who has embraced his Russian identity, has been used by Onishchenko and the Russian Federal Security Service to manipulate Georgian society and politics to benefit Russia. Georgian Dream or Otsneba members argued that Partskhaladze had not come near the government for over ten years. Irakli Kobakhidze, Otsneba Chairman, slammed the National Bank's decision to freeze Partskhaladze's assets and transactions. However, after Kobakhidze's statement, the National Bank of Georgia, or NBG, obediently unfroze Partskhaladze's assets, saying that the Constitution protects Georgian citizens from international sanctions. President Salome Zourabichvili has demanded the Georgian authorities investigate whether Partskhaladze was a Russian agent. She also criticized the NBG’s decision to change regulations to protect Partskhaladze and demanded that Natia Turnava, president of the national bank, step down. She is one of the very few people to have worked in Shevardnadzes, Misha’s, and Bidzina’s government.

Speaking of the NBG…

On Wednesday, the 20th, several NBG board members left their posts because the bank did not comply with US sanctions and unfroze Partskhaladze's assets. Board members Nikoloz Gagua, and Archil Mestvirishvili, and Papuna Lezhava, Vice president and a member of the NBG Board, resigned from their posts. The NBG Board consists of nine members, currently, four are bank executives. According to the law, the board cannot operate if it has fewer than five members.

On Wednesday, the 20th, during a parliamentary session, the opposition called for a debate on Otar Partskhaladze's actions and the National Bank's decisions, which led to a fight between opposition MP, and leader of the Agmashenebeli Strategy party Giorgi Vashadze and representative of the ruling Georgian Dream Irakli Zarkua.

Also, when the Minister of Culture was delivering her speech, opposition MPs interrupted her by covering the rostrum with a banner calling for Otsneba to sail in the direction of the Russian ship, in line with the famous Ukrainian slogan. The commotion resulted in the expulsion of Giorgi Vashadze from the session. The opposition MPs called Otsneba representatives "Russians," while the ruling party team referred to them as "agents." The disturbances continued even in the parliament's foyer.

Next, an alleged plot.

On Monday, the 18th, the State Security Service of Georgia said that Giorgi Lortkipanidze, a former deputy Interior Minister, but now the deputy Head of Ukraine's counterintelligence, Mikheil Baturin, the former bodyguard of Misha, and Mamuka Mamulashvili, leader of the Georgian Legion operating in Ukraine, are plotting to overthrow the government by causing political destabilization and creating civil unrest from October to December— when the European Union has to make its final decision on Georgia's EU candidate status.

The Security Service said the conspirators are recruiting and training the Georgian youth near the Polish-Ukrainian border. They have the support of the NGO Canvas/Otpor, a non-profit, educational institution focused on nonviolent actions, based in Serbia. Members of the opposition said this is an obvious and hilarious Otsneba effort to divert attention from Partskhaladze's sanctioning. Good luck!

Since we mentioned the EU, back to something real.

On Tuesday the 19th, Irakli Kobakhidze, Otsneba Chairman, unveiled last-minute measures designed to pretend to fulfill conditions for Georgia's candidacy, which are all about the famous EU Candidacy for Georgia twelve points. These measures include presenting an Action Plan on de-oligarchization and forwarding draft laws on common courts, electoral code amendments, and anti-corruption measures to the Venice Commission. Moreover, Kobakhidze said that Otsneba would soon adopt the national risk assessment document on money laundering and will prepare the first draft of the action plan for a human rights strategy. Finally, he said Otsneba would coordinate meetings with NGOs on the EU's twelve recommendations.

More on the EU’s twelve conditions.

On Friday the 15th, the Open Society Georgia Foundation and eight Civil Society organizations prepared their final assessment document – EU CANDIDACY CHECK - on the Georgian authorities’ progress regarding the EU's twelve recommendations. The report doesn’t include new information that we haven’t covered. It says the authorities have fully implemented one priority, proactively considering European Court of Human Rights judgments. They have mostly fulfilled two priorities: the independence of the ombudsman and the Public Defender office, promoting gender equality and combatting violence against women. Partially fulfilled seven priorities: Electoral and institutional reforms, establishing an independent judiciary, introducing anti-corruption measures, improving the media environment, protecting the human rights of vulnerable groups, involving civil society organizations in the decision-making process, and fighting against organized crime. However, de-oligarchization and political de-polarization conditions remain unfulfilled. This is the last report before the decistion.

In International news.

On Saturday, the 16th, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili led a Georgian delegation to the seventy-eighth UN General Assembly in New York. They attended the Sustainable Development Goals Summit, where Garibashvili highlighted Georgia's commitment to the twenty thirty Agenda, a UN plan of action that seeks to strengthen universal peace. During the visit, the Prime Minister met with UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Garibashvili also met Charles Michel, the European Council President, and talked to him about Georgia's alleged progress in implementing the twelve recommendations.

On Sunday, the 17th, a strong hailstorm in Kvareli municipality in Kakheti Region destroyed agricultural fields in villages - Gremi, Eniseli, Sabue, and Shilda. According to locals, the half-hour hailstorm destroyed annual and perennial crops, including part of the vineyards, and also damaged the roofs of houses and cars. Locals asked the municipal and central government for help. Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said the state will compensate the people affected by the storm.

On Monday, the 18th, the City Hall of Batumi said they have opened three kindergartens in Batumi and Daba Chakvi. Archil Chikovani, mayor of Batumi, with Tornike Rizhvadze, Chairman of the Adjara Government, inspected these new kindergartens. Chikovani said that Batumi planned to build and renovate twenty-two kindergartens this year. The city has allocated over 24 million laris, around 9 million US dollars, for these projects, benefitting over 800 children and employing 150 people.

The Professional Training and Retraining Center for Convicts and Enterprise Georgia, the country's export promotion agency, signed a memorandum. Because of this agreement, on Tuesday, the 19th, Enterprise Georgia presented handmade craft items created by inmates, probationers, and former prisoners at the Micam & Mipel Milano exhibition. Mikheil Khidureli, the Agency Director, said this was the first time they have presented these crafts to foreign buyers. He said over 45,000 buyers attended the exhibition, featuring fifteen hundred companies from 130 countries. Georgia showcased leather wallets, belts, bags, and accessories.

On Saturday, the 16th, the National Statistics Service published an employment report. In the second quarter of twenty twenty-three, Georgia's average monthly nominal salary increased by 17% or 263 laris, by around 100 US dollars, compared to the same period last year. The average salary is now eighteen hundred laris, or 690 US dollars. The Agency said that the sectors that have the highest salaries are IT, finance, and insurance sectors, with thrity-eight hundred, thirty-two hundred, and twenty-five hundred laris, respectively, or fourteen hundred, twelve hundred, and 950 US dollars. According to the report, the agriculture and education sectors have the lowest salaries, with one thousand two hundred and seventy and a thousand and fifty laris, or around 480 and 400 US dollars, respectively.

The Georgian Wine Festival will showcase wine, cuisine, and culture at Dartington Hall near Dartmoor, in south eastern England between Plymouth and Exeter from the 13th to the 15th of October. Visitors can try Georgian wine and dishes, learn about the country's culture, and enjoy performances from the Georgian polyphonic ensemble Shvidkatsa.

And that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us! Before we leave, we wanted to thank everyone who has been listening to us, and welcome all the new subscribers! We are happy the Rorshok Georgia community is growing!

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Nakhvamdis!